PVR renews non-exclusive agreements with BookMyShow & Paytm

BookMyShow is expected to pay about Rs 235 crore to PVR, while Paytm will pay over Rs 175 crore, according to people familiar with the dealSupraja Srinivasan | ETtech | August 03, 2018, 23:03 IST

PVR, India’s leading multiplex chain operator, renewed non-exclusive agreements with online platforms BookMyShow and Paytm for the sale of its movie tickets all over the country for three years, deals that will bring it at least Rs 410 crore.

The agreements were reached after talks with Paytm for an exclusive contract failed, sources said.

“PVR will receive an upfront advance payment of Rs 350 crore” from the two aggregators, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday. “PVR Ltd. is entitled to receive from these aggregators, an aggregate amount of Rs 410 crore towards minimum guarantee and refundable security deposit for booking PVR Cinema’s ticketing inventory on their online ticketing platforms.”

PVR shares soared almost 10% in intraday trade before closing 6.8% higher at Rs 1,179.10 on the BSE.

BookMyShow is expected to pay about Rs 235 crore to PVR, while Paytm will pay over Rs 175 crore, according to people familiar with the deal. Paytm and BookMyShow did not respond to email queries sent by ET until the time of going to print.

Paytm had been in negotiations with PVR for an exclusive ticketing partnership, which fell through, according to two people familiar with the talks. Paytm had offered Rs 500 crore to PVR for the exclusive partnership – almost three times the amount it will pay now, according to one person. The reason for the failure of the negotiations was not known.

An exclusive partnership with PVR would have given a significant edge to both Paytm and BookMyShow, which are battling for leadership in the online entertainment ticketing space.

A sizeable portion of ticket sales for BookMyShow and Paytm comes from PVR, which operates 634 screens at 136 properties in 53 cities and expects to end 2018 with 650 screens across India.

PVR gets over 50% of its revenue from online ticketing channels and its own website. Consolidated revenue from operations was Rs 2,334 crore in the year ended March 2018.